Installing shoulder harness in a 39 Ford Fordor

[mhsprecher]

I bought the shoulder harness kit from Juliano's. They have a link for installing the belts in a 40 Tudor. http://www.julianos.com/how2_40ford.html

After discussing welding the brackets into my car, I called Julianos and they have a non-weld option, a bar you install inside the B pillar. That is what I used.

I have an original interior on my car, which figured into my project. Julianos has good instructions, but I called a couple of times and got some good advice from Peter who works there.

The layout is pretty straightforward. It does take a little planning and there are workarounds you must do, depending upon your car.

I started by removing the interior material from the B pillar. Not hard. I did not want to damage my original upholstery, so I will put new material in on the B pillar. I removed my carpets and will put reproductions in place.

The first photos is the bar that goes inside the B pillar. You need to drill a 7/16 hole in the pillar. I used a punch to mark the spot for the hole. On the first, I drilled a small pilot hole first and then drilled the 7/16 hole.

You the pull the bar up inside the pillar using a string and bolt the shoulder belt in place. My bolt is 38" from the floor. I think I could have moved it a bit higher, but I had interior lights that I needed to avoid.

I then took the retractor and mounted it on the floor. It is large and I put it such that the seat could move back and forth. The placement of the retractor is determined by the seat travel and frame members under the car. I was able to do this by figuring out where I needed to drill by looking underneath. I recommend drilling a pilot hole from under the car to make sure the hole ends up in the right place.

I put the buckle side of the belt farther forward in the floor. Those buckles are not very long, so you need to move them in order to have enough belt and buckle through the seat cushions. It is still a tight fit. Julianos put the belts with the buckles on the drive shaft tunnel. Due to my original interior attached to the drive shaft hump, I put mine on the floor instead.

The bolts for the belts are welded onto plates that l like the design and quality of. Better than what I picked up at the hardware store for use on my Model A.

Theoretically the second belt should not take as long to install. Mostly true, but there were complications. There is a switch on the B pillar for the interior lights, so I had to mount the bracket 2" lower on the passenger side.

I thought that I could put the retractor in the same place on the passenger side. This is the side with the exhaust pipe. I also found that there was a mounting pad for the body on the frame that interfered with my putting the bolt plate in the same location. I had to move it outboard 1/2 to 3/4 inch from where the one on the driver's side was. Other photos show the retractors, buckle straps and bolt plates under the car.

The job was pretty quick and I am happy with what I ended up with. I feel a lot better driving with my belt and shoulder harness installed.

[mhsprecher]

Here are more photos of the finished installation. The retractors do obstruct entry to the rear seats somewhat, but they are not too bad. The lack of space between the seat and the B pillar necessitate installing the retractors in the rear foot area of the back seat.IMG_3260.jpg

IMG_3263.jpg

[fordor41]

I had same problem with my '41 Fordor. I installed the retractors under the front seat. had to play with the buckle to make them lay correctly.

[mhsprecher]

fordor41, sounds like a good solution. It never occurred to me to do that.

[51 MERC-CT]

Although not a '39 this is is my installation of Juliano's 3 point belts with the emphasis on keeping the take-up reels out of sight.

[mhsprecher]

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Jeez guys, you make me look like a hacker in comparison! LOL!